A great Spurs legacy: No whining, all class after Game 4-ending non-call

God bless the San Antonio Spurs. I don’t always say or think that when I’m watching them go through their traditional 3-minute scoring droughts in playoff games or see Fabricio Oberto stand around doing nothing.

But watching the Spurs react so calmly and regally in the wake of the big non-call when Derek Fisher bumped Brent Barry near the final buzzer of the Lakers’ gigantic 93-91 Game 4 victory in San Antonio…

Well, that reminded me why I like and respect the Spurs so much. Why they’re such a team to cherish amid our the national and often Bay Area obsession with crying, whining, moaning, calling out fake conspiracies and making shrieking excuses in the wake of tough defeat.

And it hit me this morning: Down 3-1 in the series, this is probably the end of the Spurs’ semi-dynasty (four titles from 1999 to 2007), but what a graceful way to end it.

–Quick summary why this is probably it for the Spurs: Duncan turned 32 last month is 31, Ginobili is 30, the Lakers are blowing past them, Portland is on deck, and I don’t see another Duncan set to arrive in San Antonio any time soon.

I’ve always liked Gregg Popovich–he’s tough and can fire off jibes with anybody, but I love that–and his post-game comments about the non-call should be pasted up in the Basketball Hall of Fame, with the subhead: “This is how you act classily after a tough loss/This is the attitude of a champion in defeat.”

Popovich’s point: If he was the official (and this is crucial–the official nearest was Spurs’ enemy Joey Crawford), he would not have called a foul there.

Popovich’s subtext: It’s the deciding moment of a huge conference finals game in which the Spurs had been thoroughly out-played at home… The Spurs shouldn’t have and didn’t expect a borderline excuse-me call to save them there.

The Spurs don’t deal in excuse-making. They win. Or they lose. Period. (OK, they’ve complained in the past–but not with shrieks.)

You win titles by staying out of spots like that–where you need the ref to blow a whistle at the end of a game. You lose titles by getting into spots like that and praying for a tweet.

The Spurs have won four titles. They’ve worked harder than anybody. They’ve been better than most. They know. And they’re not going to go out as whiners.

That’s all-time classy by Pop, I can’t say it enough.

-Sacramento didn’t quite react like this in 2002 against the Lakers, if I remember correctly. No shock: The Kings never won a title. (Looking for excuses.)

-The Warriors and Warriors fans in particular didn’t quite react like this in late-March when Fisher flopped in front of Monta Ellis and Bob Delaney called an offensive foul… (Don Nelson didn’t like the call but didn’t go overboard in his complaints. I must give Don high credit for that–he rarely whines about officials. I’m assuming he passed that along to his players: Ellis and Baron Davis were very reasonable about the call afterwards, also.)

Back to the Spurs/Lakers Game 4. Sure it was a foul. Fisher screwed up, half-jumped, came down, bumped into Barry before Barry took a dribble to the side and fired wildly. Easily could’ve and maybe should’ve been a non-shooting foul, two shots, probably a tie game.

But the refs, including Crawford, had been very kind to the Spurs to that point. Tons of Spurs free throws (and the Spurs made them, to their credit).

I couldn’t believe Doug Collins initially missed this during the TNT call (he’s usually on top of everything), but it was a gigantic deal that the shot clock didn’t re-set after a Laker jumper with just over 5 seconds left.

The refs should’ve re-set the shot clock after the ball went off of Robert Horry out of bounds. It wasn’t re-set, so the Lakers only had 2 seconds on the shot-clock, which led to a Kobe wild miss and the Spurs ball down 2 with just over 2 seconds left in the game.

The Spurs should not have been in such a fortunate spot. I think they knew that. They’re smart like that.

They didn’t particularly want the ball in Barry’s hands at the end, either–the play was initially for Manu Ginobili, of course, but he couldn’t get to it.

TNT’s Reggie Miller, who ought to know, made a great point after the game that Barry would’ve known how to get the foul if he’d been in that situation more in his career.

But Barry hadn’t been in those spots because he’s not actually a very good/clutch end-game shooter. And he didn’t lean in and purposely draw the foul. He shied away.

“You’re not going to get that call,” Duncan said after the game. “They’re not going to make that call.”

Barry agreed. Popovich agreed. The Spurs fans might scream about a Joey C. conspiracy or David Stern/pro-Lakers conspiracy… But eventually they’ll all agree that the Lakers were the better team.

The Lakers are a better team.

Sometimes there are terrible calls. Sometimes they seem to favor the bigger-market teams. Sometimes I wonder about that, too. But hey, the Spurs have won four titles and got the lottery ball that landed Tim Duncan when they already had David Robinson.

So was there a Spurs’ conspiracy, too? No.

Columnist Buck Harvey of the San Antonio Express-News wrote that it was a foul, but the Spurs lost and that’s what they deserved after being out-played. (Sorry, having trouble linking to the column.)

Buck’s right. Popovich’s right. Duncan’s always right. Barry’s right.

If this is the end, it’s a calm, reasonable end of a great run by the NBA’s only calm, reasonable semi-dynasty.

We’ll appreciate the Spurs a lot more once they’re not in playoff games like this, acting so calm and reasonable in victory and yes, even in defeat.

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I think the real issue here is that there is an unspoken inequity in the league and that if Kobe takes that shot and is fouled by a Spurs player in a similar judo move, both you and the other minions that read this blog know there’s an awfully good chance he’s going to the line.

It’s because the league is pumped up on the steroids of stardom that such a disparity exists between what is real and what is allowed. In the space of that nebulous zone where popularity is rewarded with privilege the possibility of so called “fake conspiracies” arise. In such a case, they’re not conspiracies at all, but transparent acts of supporting the underlying economics of the league.

Is that so different than the rising cost of oil?

Not really.

Only a simpleton or a fool would buy the company line regarding prices.

Same as The NBA.

Former Has-Been

True, the Spurs reacted with class. But clearly it was a foul, non-shooting, but Barry’s head was knocked sideways and it put him totally off balance for the forced shot. And it was a continuation of the incompetent officiating that marred the whole game, most of which benefited the Spurs. How man steps did Duncan take in that layup in the first half? Four, three for sure. Why is the NBA officiating so far below the level of competence of the players? Why are they not-even-close-to-as-good-as the crews working top high school games? Why are all the officials from Philadelphia? Why do the have this weird system where the calls vary based on the level of stardom of the players affected? Why do the same screw-ups get to work the big games?

Darren

I think the call could have gone either way. If it was Kobe instead of Barry, it probably would have been called. From the TV angle I saw, it was almost like Barry leaned into Fisher’s landing — Brent was completely hunched over when Derek hit him. But the refs have probably called that play a foul thousands of times. I agree with you that the Spurs handled the situation in a classy manner — in fact, I think they have been great this whole series. Duncan is usually a big whiner — almost as big a whiner as Jordan was — but he didn’t complain much this series. And Manu and Fisher haven’t been the flop artists that they usually are. A very well played series where both teams just played ball and tried to keep the drama out of the game.

David

It was a foul, but not before Brent Barry traveled. He caught the ball with a right left stop. He stepped back on his shot fake with his left foot, and then stepped forward with his RIGHT foot to draw contact with Derek Fisher.

jr

The fact that we can have this debate (and I would say the play was without debate a foul) is one of the most serious problems the NBA faces. Tim correctly alluded to other situations (’02 Kings Game 6, this year’s Warriors-Lakers game) where team’s playoff lives or even their presence in the playoffs is at stake. The quality of officiating in the league is absolutely pathetic. I can’t remember this many disputed college calls in recent memory yet the NBA’s officials are supposed to be the best. It’s a shame their skill is nowhere as prolific as that of the players whose games they are officiating.

JustPuked

Stars get calls but stars also have the ball in their hands all the time. Look at how often Tim Duncangets foul called in his favor on vanilla post moves. Probably should have been called but after all the freebies the refs gave the Spur just so the could stay in the game, it evened out. Classy reaction to a tough situation.

Mom

Fisher didn’t land on Barry. Barry dove into him, and he wasn’t trying to shoot it at the time. Calls got missed both ways, like the 24 second clock not being reset on the Lakers’ previous possession. It looked like Parker was fouled by Odom after the Spurs last basket. But its probably hard to tell sometimes because Parker falls down almost everytime he shoots the ball.

pmyster12

It was a good non-call especially how the game was called the whole way. If kobe was in the same situation, he would have saw the player, pump faked and jump into the player to draw a foul. I dont think Koby would have got the foul in that same situation as Brent B was. If the Lakers keep that same intensity up they will finish up Friday.

Classy after the game, but what about during the game when it matters the most? Parker whining face to face with the refs after a travel call, Manu doing his normal flopping, and even Duncan jumping up and down after he thought he was fouled by Turiaf on a jump hook. Granted Kobe was doing this last night as well and the Pistons think they haven’t committed a foul in five years, but to say the Spurs (or any NBA team) is “classy” is a joke. Of course the superstars whine and complain, but Stack Jack is the one to be ejected a couple times in the playoffs last year and don’t forget Baron getting a T for clapping. Consistency and equality please (Dominmatrix hits it right on the money, but Tim is the one getting paid for this…).

Gordon

> couldn’t believe Doug Collins initially missed this during the TNT call (he’s usually on top of everything), but it was a gigantic deal that the shot clock didn’t re-set after a Laker jumper with just over 5 seconds left.

The refs should’ve re-set the shot clock after the ball went off of Robert Horry out of bounds. It wasn’t re-set, so the Lakers only had 2 seconds on the shot-clock, which led to a Kobe wild miss and the Spurs ball down 2 with just over 2 seconds left in the game.

Why should the shot clock be reset? The two cases for a reset are a) shot touched iron, which it did not and b) ball was possessed by an opponent (Horry), which also did not happen.

A ball that bounces off an opponent’s body (with no possession) does not entail a reset.

Perhaps that is why Collins didn’t mention it. Because it was done right.

Former Has-Been

And what in the world was the NBA thinking when the had Joey Crawford ref this game. Last year he was suspended for the rest of the season for his feud with Tim Duncan and the Spurs. And he is the one who blows this huge call. Even if you think he made the right call, which he didn’t, he had no business being out there. A year after the NBA is disgraced by a gambling ref from the same high school as Crawford? You want to give him an important game, send him to Boston. But this was sheer stupidity.

don

The NBA is one big conspiracy so why should this be any different. LA getting Pau Gasol for virtually nothing? The W’s could have given up nothing too…but LA, big market, Kobe showtime team gets him Duh. How about the Bulls getting #1 this year. I guarantee you D. Stern wanted it to go to NY but knew everyone would yell conspiracy like when they got Ewing, so give it to the next biggest market, Chicago. I love BBall but I feel like the dice are always stacked against us. I admit Portland has defied the NBA gods to get some great players but we’re in for a long road as W fans (especially if we continue to not play defense..are you watching the playoffs Nellie?)

dominmatrix

Don makes some great points. Apparently the Gasol trade happened out of the ethers. There was no open bidding unlike last season when The Grizz flirted with The Bulls for about as long as Brett Favre has contemplated retiring. This time it happened in a void and caught a lot of GM’s by surprise.

If other teams knew they were shopping him, I’m sure that they could have offered more than what was in LA”s junk drawer.

Stern has a growing perception problem that he needs to be careful about. From his obvious meddling in the Seattle situation with his long time buddy Clay Bennett, to the clumsy handling of the Donaghy affair, to the always debatable and dubious post season calls, to the miraculous rise of The Bulls in the the lottery, it’s looking more and more like a manufactured event, than a truly competitive enterprise.

Gordon

Update:

Tim wrote: The refs should’ve re-set the shot clock after the ball went off of Robert Horry out of bounds.

And I replied that there should be no reset because Horry did not have possession (and because the ball did not hit the rim).

Correct. However, the NBA announced something today that Tim may have been referencing but I had not heard from anyone til just now: a video review showed the shot grazed the rim. Thus, there should have been a reset for that.

jt

yes, there was a Fisher foul, and kobe or even ginoboli would have got the call but this game had several gross mis-calls. duncan took 4-5 steps from the top of the key when uncontested in the 3rd qtr, kobe had 29 pts but not one trip to the foul line, and i couldve sworn that ginobilis 3pt made shot in the 4th qtr actually was a 2pt due to his foot being a few inches over the line, and there was a touch fould called on fisher on parkers’ shot and 1. the refs let a lot of fouls go overall, a pretty sloppy game call by them.
the lakers should close the spurs out in LA, but the finals with either boson or detroit with both of the eastern teams having home court advantage will be very tough for the lakers to breeze through.

BK

TK:

While I generally agree with your takes, I have one huge point to make on the Spurs.

Where was the supposed Spurs class when “Big Shot” Bob Horry … ok strike that “Hip Check” Bob Horry took Steve Nash out into the scorer’s table in the Playoffs. (If only the Sharks had hit like that against Dallas.)

That one move by Horry and the protestations of innocence after the fact by the Spur players, Popovich, front office, and the city of San Antonio — forever turned me against the Spurs and the professionalism you state they stand for.

After that fact, I think either David Stern or Stu jackson from the NBA had the gall to say that that call and the subsequent Phoenix suspensions “was not the fair call but was the correct call.”

Ever since then, I have referred to the Spurs as “the correct NBA Champion for that season, but not the fair (and square) NBA Champion for that season.”

I will not miss Horry, Bowen, or the Manu-flop much at all. I give them credit for their ccomplishments, but let’s keep our perspective.

I think Popovich is smart enough to know he got that Phoenix call that led to a questionable championship title … so its easy for Pop to roll over on this call with a spare title in your pocket.

I’m sure Steve Nash and Phoenix “sans title” would have an interesting take on the Spurs professionalism.

BK in Half Moon Bay

Mike

All’s I see here is more whinning like all the players on both teams. No one in the NBA every commits a foul, everyone flops at the slightest of bumps. I agree the refs are horrible and the league needs to enforce the rules and keep a even balance during game play, but I don’t have any evidence to say there is a fix or a game was decided by the refs.

I love the spurs and agree they handled the loss as they should with respect. They lost period no excuses. Class organization from the David Robinson times!! Phil Jackson was whining in every interview possible about no Kobe free throws and calls even after the win.

I beleive if LA wins they deserve too, not going to blame anyone but the play of the spurs.

The league does need to deal with flops, complaining on calls, and uniformity of calls during a game. I miss the 0 tollerance policy for complaining. I miss the days when a foul was easy to detect because the player didn’t flop. I however do not think there will ever be a day when the fans will accept the calls and move on and stop whining about them causing their team to lose. Stop whinning and and move on, fans on both sides!

MikeM

I’m surprised at how few people noticed that the ball obviously hit the rim. TNT showed the replay just once, and it was obvious to me that it had. That one should have been an easy call. So while I think Fisher fouled Barry, I also think it should have been Laker ball at the other end. They hit the rim which was all they needed to do.

As great a player as I think Duncan is, he gets away with travelling a lot. It bugs me that he does. Back in the really old days, Magic got away with pinning the ball to his hip over and over, too.

We had another play in Boston last night that I did not understand. One of the Pistons fired up a long shot, and there was a whistle, and a Celtic caught the ball right in front of the rim. To me, that was an obvious goaltend that should have tied the score. I have no idea why it wasn’t called.

Mike

OK, lets continue the whine. Good job Lakers you really desreved the win last night. Now everyone can stop blaming the officials and whinning. One week break from the Lakers whine prior to the finals! At least I have something to look forward to. Laker fans, you won both game 4 and 5 and deserved to, so please stop whinning about calls!!!!!!